Who Was the First Woman Nominated for Vice President by a Major American Political Party? By Jone Johnson Lewis Updated September 10, 2015. Question: Who was the first woman nominated as a vice presidential candidate by a major American political party? Answer: In 1984, Walter Mondale, Democratic nominee for president, selected Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate, and his choice was confirmed by the Democratic National Convention. The only other woman nominated for vice president by a major party was Sarah Palin in 2008. The Nomination At the time of the Democratic National Convention of 1984, Geraldine Ferraro was serving her sixth year in Congress . An Italian-American from Queens, New York, since she moved there in 1950, she was an active Roman Catholic. She kept her birth name when she married John Zaccaro. She had been a public school teacher and a prosecuting attorney. Already, there was speculation that the popular Congresswoman would run for the Senate in New York in 1986. She asked the Democratic party to make her the head of the platform committee for its 1984 convention.

continue reading below our video Test Your General Science Knowledge As early as 1983, an op-ed in the New York Times by Jane Perletz urged that Ferraro be given the vice president slot on the Democratic ticket. She was appointed to chair the platform committee. Candidates for the presidential slot in 1984 included Walter F. Mondale, Senator Gary Hart and the Rev. Jesse Jackson all had delegates, though it was clear that Mondale would win the nomination. There was still talk in the months before the convention of placing Ferraro's name in nomination at the convention, whether Mondale chose her as his running mate or not. Ferraro finally clarified in June that she would not permit her name to be put in nomination if it would be counterposed to Mondale's choice. A number of powerful women Democrats, including Maryland's Representative Barbara Mikulski, were pressuring Mondale to pick Ferraro or face a floor fight. In her acceptance speech to the convention , memorable words included "If we can do this, we can do anything.” A Reagan landslide defeated the Mondale-Ferraro ticket.

She was only the fourth member of the House to that point in the 20th century to run as a major party candidate for vice president. Conservatives including William Safire criticized her for use of the honorific Ms. and for using the term "gender" instead of "sex." The New York Times, refusing by its style guide to use Ms. with her name, settled at her request on calling her Mrs. Ferraro. During the campaign, Ferraro tried to bring issues that were about women's lives to the forefront. A poll right after the nomination showed Mondale/Ferraro winning the women's vote while men favored the Republican ticket. Her casual approach at appearances, coupled with her quick responses to questions and her clear competence, endeared her to supporters. She was not afraid to publicly say that her counterpart on the Republican ticket, George H. W. Bush, was patronizing. Questions about Ferraro's finances dominated the news for quite a while during the campaign. Many believed that there was more focus on her family's finances because she was a woman, and some thought it was because she and her husband were Italian-Americans.

In particular, the investigations looked at loans made from her husband's finances to her first Congressional campaign, an error on 1978 income taxes resulting in back taxes owed of $60,000, and her disclosure of her own finances but refusal to disclose her husband's detailed tax filings. She was reported to have won support among Italian-Americans, particularly because of her heritage, and because some Italian-Americans suspected that the harsh attacks on her husband's finances reflected stereotypes about Italian-Americans. But for a variety of reasons, including facing an incumbent in an improving economy and Mondale's statement that a tax increase was inevitable, Mondale/Ferraro lost in November. About 55 percent of women, and more men, voted for the Republicans. The Aftermath For many women, breaking the glass ceiling with that nomination was inspiring. It would be another 24 years before another woman was nominated for the vice presidency by a major party. 1984 was called the Year of the Woman for women's activity in working in and running in campaigns. (1992 was later also called Year of the Woman for the number of women who won Senate and House seats.) Nancy Kassebaum (R-Kansas) won reelection to the Senate.

Three women, two Republicans and one Democrat, won their elections to become first-term Representatives in the House. Many women challenged incumbents, though few won. A House Ethics committee in 1984 decided that Ferraro should have reported details of her husband's finances as part of her financial disclosures as a member of Congress. They took no action to sanction her, finding that she had omitted the information unintentionally. She remained a spokesperson for feminist causes, though largely as an independent voice. When many Senators defended Clarence Thomas and attacked the character of his accuser, Anita Hill, she said that men "still don't get it." She refused an offer to run for the Senate against Republican incumbent Alfonse M. D'Amato in the 1986 race. In 1992, in the next election to seek to unseat D'Amato, there was talk of Ferraro running, and also stories about Elizabeth Holtzman (Brooklyn District Attorney) showing ads that implied a connection of Ferraro's husband to organized crime figures. In 1993, President Clinton appointed Ferraro as an ambassador, appointed to be a representative to the United Nations Human Rights Commission .

In 1998 Ferraro decided to pursue a race against the same incumbent. The likely Democratic primary field included Rep. Charles Schumer (Brooklyn), Elizabeth Holtzman and Mark Green, New York City Public Advocate. Ferraro had the support of Gov. Cuomo. She dropped out of the race over an investigation into whether her husband had made illegal large contributions to her 1978 Congressional campaign. Schumer won the primary and the election. Supporting Hillary Clinton in 2008 The same year, 2008, that the next woman was nominated for vice president by a major party, Hillary Clinton had nearly won the Democratic nomination for the top of the ticket, the presidency. Ferraro supported the campaign strongly, and said quite publicly was marked by sexism. See also: Geraldine Ferraro Biography with more information about her life, through the campaign of 2008. And for quotes that give a sense of her interests and style: Geraldine Ferraro Quotes Geraldine Ferraro dies at 75 - politics - More politics | NBC News Advertise THOMAS ROBERTS, anchor: We begin with the death of a political icon.

Geraldine Ferraro was the first female vice presidential nominee of a major political party . The 75-year-old passed away Saturday of blood cancer. NBC 's Kelly O'Donnell has a look back at her extraordinary life. Ms. GERALDINE FERRARO: Vice president has such a nice ring to it. Mr. WALTER MONDALE: This is an exciting choice! KELLY O'DONNELL reporting: Ferraro became Walter Mondale 's running mate in 1984 , what Time labeled "a historic choice." Sudden fame for the New York congresswoman, the daughter of an Italian immigrant. Gender became a campaign issue, and Ferraro fought back. President GEORGE H.W. BUSH: Let me help you with the difference, Ms. Ferraro , between Iran and the embassy in Lebanon . Ms. FERRARO: Let me just say, first of all, that I almost resent, Vice President Bush , your patronizing attitude that you have to teach me about foreign policy. O'DONNELL: Her first-of-its-kind candidacy ended with a landslide defeat when President Reagan and Vice President Bush won re-election. And there were personal setbacks.

Married more than 50 years, her husband John Zaccaro convicted in 1985 for financial fraud. Twice Ferraro ran for US Senate , but failed. Then in 1998 she was diagnosed with an incurable form of bone marrow cancer. Ms. FERRARO: I don't want to have a big C on my face because that's not me. I mean, I'm still going to go on and do the things I do. O'DONNELL: And she did. A writer and political commentator, a grandmother who said she looked back with no regrets. Ms. FERRARO: My marriage has been spectacular, my kids are wonderful. And I look at what comes next and, for me, I believe strongly in an afterlife. So I'm perfectly -- I'm literally perfectly content. O'DONNELL: Geraldine Ferraro gave women a big victory just being in the race. Kelly O'Donnell, NBC News, Washington. Related slideshow A political life Hillary Clinton In 2000, Hillary Clinton became the first first lady to be elected to a national office when she won the position of a U.S. senator for New York.

In January 2007, Clinton launched her campaign to become the Democratic nominee for president. She was considered the front runner, but was eventually defeated by Sen. Barack Obama in a tight race. (Julie Jacobson / AP) Share Back to slideshow navigation Condoleezza Rice Condoleezza Rice became the first black female secretary of state on Jan. 26, 2005. Prior to this, she had served as President Bush’s National Security Advisor since 2001, and also was the first black woman in that position. (Ron Edmonds / AP) Share Back to slideshow navigation Nancy Pelosi Nancy Pelosi, a congresswoman from California, broke the marble ceiling on Jan. 4, 2007, when she became the first female Speaker of the House of Representatives after Democrats regained control of Congress in the 2006 election. Before that, colleagues elected her Democratic leader of the House of Representatives in 2002. She has served as a member of Congress for 21 years.

(Lawrence Jackson / AP) Share Back to slideshow navigation Geraldine Ferraro In 1984, Democratic presidential candidate Walter Mondale selected New York congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro as his vice presidential running mate. The Mondale-Ferraro ticket lost to Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, but Ferraro went down in history as the first woman nominated by a major political party as a vice presidential candidate. (Diana Walker / Time & Life Pictures via Getty Image) Share Back to slideshow navigation Carol Moseley-Braun Carol Mosely-Braun was the first black woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate, where she represented Illinois from 1993 to 1999. She was the first, and to date, the only, black woman elected to the Senate, the first woman to defeat an incumbent senator in an election and the first female senator from Illinois. From 1999 until 2001, she was the U.S. ambassador to New Zealand. She briefly ran as a Democratic candidate in the 2004 U.S. presidential election but dropped out four days before the Iowa caucuses and endorsed Howard Dean.

(Manny Ceneta / AFP - Getty Images) Share Back to slideshow navigation Advertise Janet Reno Janet Reno is the first woman to serve as U.S. Attorney General. She served in President Bill Clinton's cabinet from 1993-2001 and ran unsuccessfully for governor in the 2002 Florida Democratic primary. Reno, a graduate of Harvard Law School, supervised many Department of Justice actions, including bringing suit against Microsoft for violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act, the capture and conviction of Unabomer Theodore Kaczynski and Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. Reno also supervised the capture and conviction of those behind the first World Trade Center bombings, and the seizure of 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez and his return to his Cuban father. (Joe Marquette / Associated Press) Share Back to slideshow navigation Advertise Madeleine Albright Madeleine Albright was sworn in as the 64th U.S. secretary of state on Jan. 23, 1997, becoming the first woman in this position and the highest-ranking woman in the history of the U.S. government. She served in that role until Jan. 19, 2001.

(Tim Sloan / AFP - Getty Images) Share Back to slideshow navigation Advertise Sandra Day O'Connor In September of 1982, Sandra Day O’Connor became the first woman justice appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court. O’Connor started off deciding with the more conservative judges, but in time, her decisions became more centrist, and hers often became the deciding vote in close judgments. She announced her retirement on July 1, 2005, and was replaced by Samuel Alito on Jan. 31, 2006. (Paul J. Richards / AFP - Getty Images) Share Back to slideshow navigation Jeane Kirkpatrick In 1981, Jeane Kirkpatrick became the first female U.S. ambassador to the United Nations after being appointed by President Ronald Reagan. Four years later, the lifelong Democrat changed parties to the GOP. She considered seeking the Republican presidential nomination in 1988, but backed out later, saying she would accept the Number 2 slot if she was asked. She died in 2006.

(Diana Walker / Time & Life Pictures via Getty Image) Share Back to slideshow navigation Advertise Patsy Takemoto Mink Patsy Takemoto Mink of Hawaii was the first Asian-American woman elected to Congress. She served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1965 to 1976 and again from 1990 until her death in 2002. In 1972, Mink and Democratic congresswoman Edith Green authored and co-sponsored Title IX, which mandates equal financing for women’s athletics and academics at institutions that receive federal funding. (Douglas Graham / Congressional Quarterly via Getty Im) Share Back to slideshow navigation Ella Grasso Connecticut Democrat Ella Grasso was the first woman elected as governor without succeeding her husband. She was reelected in 1978, but serious health problems forced her to resign on the last day of 1980. She died on Feb. 5, 1981. (Arthur Grace / Zuma Press) Share Back to slideshow navigation Advertise Margaret Chase Smith Margaret Chase Smith broke ground for women when, in the midst of a four-term U.S.

Senate tenure that began with her election in 1948, she became the first female to have her name placed in nomination for president at a major-party convention. She received 27 of the 1,308 delegate votes in the balloting won by Arizona's Sen. Barry Goldwater. She is also the first woman to serve in both the House and the Senate. (AP) Share Back to slideshow navigation Shirley Chisholm Shirley Chisholm was the first black woman to run for president, as a Democrat, and also became the first woman to win a presidential primary when she took New Jersey with 66 percent of the vote. Several years earlier, Chisholm also made history when she became the first black woman elected to Congress, where she served from from 1969 through 1983. She died in 2005. (Don Hogan Charles / Getty Images) Share Back to slideshow navigation Hattie Caraway Sen. Hattie Caraway was the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate. Her husband, Thaddeus H. Caraway, was a senator and died in office in 1931.

After his death, his widow, a lawyer, was appointed by Arkansas Governor Harvey Parnell to finish his term. She was sworn in to office on Dec. 9, 1931 and was confirmed by a special election of the people on Jan. 12, 1932. In 1938 she was re-elected but was defeated in 1944. She died in 1950. (AP) Share Back to slideshow navigation Frances Perkins Frances Perkins was the first female Cabinet member in the United States. In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed her secretary of labor, a position she held for 12 years. She played a key role in New Deal legislation and was influential in the creation of minimum-wage laws and the Social Security Act of 1935. She died in 1965. In this photo, Perkins stitches the first Blue Eagle label into a dress during a ceremony marking the inauguration of the National Recovery Administration (NRA) in Jan. 22, 1934. (AP) Share Back to slideshow navigation Bertha K. Landes Bertha K. Landes became the first woman to lead a major U.S.

city when she was elected mayor of Seattle in 1926. She served two years until her defeat in 1928. Landes was born in Ware, Mass., and attended Indiana University, where she received a degree in history and political science in 1891. After three years of teaching, she married geologist Henry Landes and had three children. She served on the Seattle City Council before becoming mayor. She died in 1943. Today, the largest meeting room at Seattle City Hall is named in her honor. ( Share Back to slideshow navigation Advertise Nellie Tayloe Ross Nellie Tayloe Ross became the first female governor in the United States after her husband, Wyoming Gov. William B. Ross, died while in office in 1924. She won a special election and filled his position from Jan. 5, 1925 to Jan. 3, 1927. After her term, President Franklin D. Roosevelt tapped her to be the first female director of the U.S. Mint where she served from 1933 to 1953.

(AP) Share Back to slideshow navigation Advertise Jeannette Rankin In 1916, Jeannette Rankin, a congresswoman from Montana, became the first woman elected to Congress. She served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives (March 4, 1917 to March 3, 1919; Jan. 3, 1941 to Jan 3., 1943). She voted against U.S. entry into World War I and World War II. (Getty Images) Share Back to slideshow navigation Advertise Susan B. Anthony Susan B. Anthony was a strong advocate for women's rights in the 1800s. She, along with friend Elizabeth Cady Stanton, founded the National Woman Suffrage Association in 1869, which later became the League of Women Voters. In 1872, Anthony argued that the Constitution allowed women to vote, and cast a ballot in New York for the presidential election. She died in 1906, but the Nineteenth Amendment, ratified in 1920, finally gave women the right to vote. It was named the Susan B. Anthony Amendment.

(Time Life Pictures via Getty Images) Share Back to slideshow navigation This image contains graphic content that some viewers may find disturbing. Click to view the image, or use the buttons above to navigate away. This image contains graphic content that some viewers may find disturbing. Click to view the image, or use the buttons above to navigate away. This image contains graphic content that some viewers may find disturbing. Click to view the image, or use the buttons above to navigate away. Women Vice Presidential Nominees Women Vice Presidential Nominees Only Two in U.S. History Mark Wilson/Getty Images News/Getty Images By Tom Murse Updated August 23, 2016. There have been only two women vice presidential nominees representing the major parties in U.S. political history. Neither of them were elected. The two women vice presidential nominees were Democrat Geraldine Ferraro and Republican Sarah Palin . There have been many women vice presidential candidates nominated by third parties such as the Libertarian and Socialist parties over the years. Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney was said to be considering a female running mate in the 2012 election . Mondale and Ferraro Ferraro was the first woman chosen to run for vice president by a major-party presidential candidate.

She was selected by eventual Democratic nominee Walter F. Mondale in July 1984. Mondale, a former attorney general and U.S. senator from Minnesota who served as vice president under Jimmy Carter , made the announcement that he had chosen her during a news conference held at the state capitol. Mondale described his decision to choose a woman vice presidential nominee was "difficult," but also said about Ferraro: "Gerry has excelled in everything she's tried, from law school at night to being a tough prosecutor to winning a difficult election, to winning positions of leadership and respect in the Congress." Ferraro Strategy Mondale's selection of Ferraro as a running mate was described at the time as an effort to win support from middle-class voters, who favored the former school teacher and congresswoman from Queens, N.Y., as well as unions in the key industrial states of New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Ohio. Ferraro said her running mate's choice "sent a powerful signal about the direction he wants to lead our country. American history is about doors being open, doors of opportunity for everyone no matter who you are, as long as you 're willing to earn it ...

There's an electricity in the air, an excitement, a sense of new possibilities and of pride." Mondale and Ferraro lost overwhelmingly in the November 1984 presidential election to Republican presidential nominee Ronald Reagan and his running mate George H.W. Bush . McCain and Palin Palin was only the second woman chosen to run for vice president by a major-party presidential candidate. She was selected by Republican nominee John McCain in in August 2008. McCain's selection of Palin was described by The New York Times as having "astonished the political world" because she was a "little-known governor of Alaska and self-described 'hockey mom' with almost no foreign policy experience." McCain made the announcement at a rally in Dayton, Ohio, before some 15,000 supporters. "She’s not from these parts, and she’s not from Washington, but when you get to know her, you’re going to be as impressed as I am," McCain told the crowd. Palin, accepting the offer, made reference to failed 2008 Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton.

"Hillary left 18 million cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling in America, but it turns out the women of America aren’t finished yet, and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all," Palin said. Palin Strategy McCain was said to have chosen Palin for a number of reasons, including mollifying social conservatives who may not have been impressed by the "maverick" reputation held by Republican nominee. Palin, who was 44, also was expected to help McCain, who was 72 at the time, win votes from younger Americans, those frustrated with Washington insiders as well as female voters who were disappointed that Clinton lost the race for the Democratic presidential nomination to Barack Obama . McCain and Palin lost decisively in November 2008 to Obama and Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden . Romney Running Mates Among the women mentioned as being potential vice presidential nominees alongside Romney were U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire; South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley; New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez; former eBay chief executive officer Meg Whitman ; U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington; and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice .

Facts - Presidential Gender Watch Facts WOMEN PRESIDENTIAL AND VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES A Selected List Many women have sought to become President of the United States. A number received national attention, either as pioneers in the electoral process, as potential candidates, or as candidates of minor parties with a significant national presence. Others were from minor parties or were fringe candidates who entered major party primaries. Click on image to learn more. Presidential Candidates Victoria Claflin Woodhull (1872) Victoria Claflin Woodhull (1872) – The first woman to run for United States President, Woodhull was the candidate of the Equal Rights Party. Her opponents were Ulysses S. Grant (R) and Horace Greeley (D). Woodhull, born in Homer, Ohio on September 23, 1838, traveled with her parents practicing spiritualist activities. She fought for women’s rights and founded her own newspaper. She became the first woman to own a Wall Street investment firm. Died 1927.

Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood (1884, 1888) Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood (1884, 1888) – Lockwood ran for President under the banner of the Equal Rights Party in 1884, when the major party candidates were Grover Cleveland (D) and James G. Blaine (R), and in 1888, when the election was decided by the electoral college, with Grover Cleveland (D) winning the popular vote and Benjamin Harrison (R) winning the electoral vote and the presidency. Lockwood was born in Royalton, New York in 1830, and educated at Genessee College in Lima, New York and National University, Washington, D.C. She was admitted to the bar in Washington, D.C. in 1873. In 1879 she drafted the law passed by Congress which admitted women to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court; she then became the first woman lawyer to practice before the Court. Died 1917.

Margaret Chase Smith (1964) Margaret Chase Smith (1964) – Smith was the first woman to have her name placed in nomination for President by a major party. She received Republican primary votes in New Hampshire, Illinois, Massachusetts, Texas, and Oregon, among others, and had twenty-seven first ballot votes at the Republican National Convention. She removed herself from contention after the first ballot. Smith was born in Skowhegan, Maine on December 14, 1897, graduated from Skowhegan High School, and was a primary school teacher for two years. In 1940 she was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives to fill the vacancy caused by her husband’s death; she served in the House for four terms. She was easily elected in 1948 to her first term in the U.S. Senate and reelected to the Senate three more times. Died 1995. Shirley Anita Chisholm (1972) Shirley Anita Chisholm (1972) – Chisholm was the first African American woman to seek a major party’s nomination for U.S. President.

She campaigned throughout the country and was on the ballot in twelve primaries in what was largely an educational campaign. She received 151.95 delegate votes at the Democratic National Convention. Born in Brooklyn, New York on November 30, 1924, she graduated from Brooklyn College and earned a master’s degree at Columbia University. Chisholm served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1969 to 1983, the first African American woman to serve in Congress. Prior to her service in Congress, she served in the New York state legislature from 1964 to 1968. She was a school teacher and director of child care centers before going into public service. Chisholm died in 2005. Patsy Takemoto Mink (1972) Patsy Takemoto Mink (1972) – Mink, the first woman of color to serve in the U.S. Congress, ran as an anti-war candidate in the 1972 Oregon Democratic presidential primary, winning two percent of the votes.

An attorney, Mink served in the Hawaii territorial and state legislatures before winning a seat in the U.S. House in 1964. She served in Congress from 1965 until 1977, when she left the Congress after losing a U.S. Senate primary race. She served as assistant secretary of state for oceans and international environmental and scientific affairs, as president of Americans for Democratic Action, and as a member of the Honolulu City Council before winning a special election and returning to Congress in 1990, where she served until her death in 2002. Ellen McCormack (1976, 1980) Ellen McCormack (1976, 1980) – McCormack entered 20 state primaries for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1976 as an anti-abortion candidate, winning 22 convention votes. She became the first woman to qualify for federal campaign matching funds and qualified for Secret Service protection. In 1980, she ran for president again as the candidate of the Right to Life Party, winning more than 30,000 votes from three states.

Sonia Johnson (1984) Sonia Johnson (1984) – Johnson ran on the ticket of the Citizens Party, receiving federal matching funds and winning more than 70,000 votes. Patricia S. Schroeder (1988) Patricia S. Schroeder (1988) – Schroeder, a Democrat, made headlines when she took preliminary steps toward making a serious run for the presidency, but dropped out before the primaries because she could not raise the necessary funds. Born in Portland, Oregon on July 30, 1940, Schroeder graduated from the University of Minnesota with a B.A. She attended Harvard Law School and received a J.D. in 1964. She began her law practice in Colorado as a field attorney with the National Labor Relations Board for two years and later entered private practice. In 1972, she entered her first political contest to challenge an incumbent in Colorado’s first congressional district. She won a close election and went on to serve twenty-four years in the U. S. House of Representatives. An anti-Vietnam war protestor, she secured an appointment to the Armed Services Committee in her first term.

Schroeder served as co-chair of the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues, which she helped to found. After leaving Congress, she became president of the Association of American Publishers, the trade association for book publishers. Lenora Fulani (1988, 1992) Lenora Fulani (1988, 1992) – New Alliance Party. Ran for U.S. President twice and qualified for federal matching funds. Elizabeth Hanford Dole (2000) Elizabeth Hanford Dole (2000) – In January 1999, Elizabeth Hanford Dole resigned her position as president of the American Red Cross, a position she had held since 1991, to consider a run for the Republican nomination for the U.S. presidency. She dropped out of the race in October, 1999. During the 1996 presidential campaign, Dole took a leave of absence from the Red Cross to campaign with her husband, Senator Robert Dole. She has held two cabinet posts: Secretary of Transportation (1983-87) and Secretary of Labor (1989-91).

An attorney, Dole served as White House aide in the Johnson and Reagan administrations and was appointed by President Nixon to the Federal Trade Commission. She left her Reagan administration cabinet post to work for the presidential campaign of her husband. She was later appointed as Secretary of Labor by President Bush. She was elected as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina in 2002. Carol Moseley Braun (2004) Carol Moseley Braun (2004) – Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun (D-IL) was among ten Democrats seeking the 2004 presidential nomination. Braun was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 16, 1947. She graduated from the University of Illinois-Chicago in 1968 and received her law degree from the University of Chicago in 1972. An attorney and a one-term U.S. Senator (1992-1998) she was the first African American woman to serve in the U.S. Senate. Appointed in 1999 by President Bill Clinton, Braun served as U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand.

Earlier in her political career, she had served as Illinois state representative and assistant majority leader (1978-1988) and Cook County recorder of deeds (1988-1992). Hillary Rodham Clinton (2008) Hillary Rodham Clinton (2008) – Clinton was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president. She was elected to the U.S. Senate from New York in 2000 and re-elected in 2006. She served on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee; the Environment and Public Works Committee; the Special Committee on Aging; and the Senate Armed Services Committee. She also chaired the Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee, responsible for communicating with the public about key issues before Congress. A graduate of Wellesley College and Yale Law School, she served on the staff of the House Judiciary Committee considering the impeachment of Richard Nixon. After moving to Arkansas, she ran a legal aid clinic for the poor and was appointed by President Carter to the board of the United States Legal Services Corporation.

She led a task force to improve education in Arkansas and served on national boards for the Children’s Defense Fund, the Child Care Action Campaign, and the Children’s Television Workshop. Continuing her legal career as a partner in a law firm, she led the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession. The wife of former President Bill Clinton, she is the only First Lady of the United States ever elected to public office. Michele Bachmann (2012) Michele Bachmann (2012) – Bachmann was a candidate for the Republican nomination for president; she won the Ames straw poll in August, 2011, but withdrew from the race after a disappointing showing in the Iowa caucuses. Bachmann represents a six-county Minnesota district in the U.S. House, where she was a founder of the Tea Party Caucus and a vocal, visible advocate for conservative causes. She became the first Republican woman from Minnesota elected to Congress in 2006 after serving in the State Senate from 2000-2006. A native of Waterloo, Iowa, she attended Winona State University, received her J.D. from the O.W.

Coburn School of Law at Oral Roberts University, and earned an L.L.M. in tax law from the College of William and Mary. She worked for the Internal Revenue Service as a tax attorney until leaving to become a stay-at-home parent. She and her husband served as foster parents for 23 teen-aged girls. Before seeking public office, Bachmann was a pro-life activist and founded a charter school, breaking from the school when local officials insisted that it remain non-sectarian rather than heavily Christian-oriented in order to keep its charter. She ran for the Stillwater school board, but lost. Jill Stein (2012) Jill Stein (2012) – Green Party nominee for U.S. President in 2012; qualified for federal matching funds in the primary race. Stein received 456,169 votes for 0.36% in the general election. Carly Fiorina (2016) Carly Fiorina (2016) –Fiorina was a candidate for the Republican nomination for president. She withdrew from the race after poor showings in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary.

Fiorina formerly served as a technology business executive at AT&T, Lucent, and Hewlett Packard, where she served as the company’s Chief Executive Officer from 1999 to 2005. Since then, Fiorina has served on many boards and was an advisor to John McCain’s 2008 presidential election. In 2010, she ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in California against incumbent Senator Barbara Boxer. Hillary Clinton (2016) Hillary Clinton (2016) – Clinton is currently a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president. This is her second bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. Most recently, she served as Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013. Clinton was elected to the U.S. Senate from New York in 2000 and re-elected in 2006. She served on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee; the Environment and Public Works Committee; the Special Committee on Aging; and the Senate Armed Services Committee. She also chaired the Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee, responsible for communicating with the public about key issues before Congress.

A graduate of Wellesley College and Yale Law School, she served on the staff of the House Judiciary Committee considering the impeachment of Richard Nixon. After moving to Arkansas, she ran a legal aid clinic for the poor and was appointed by President Carter to the board of the United States Legal Services Corporation. She led a task force to improve education in Arkansas and served on national boards for the Children’s Defense Fund, the Child Care Action Campaign, and the Children’s Television Workshop. Continuing her legal career as a partner in a law firm, she led the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession. The wife of former President Bill Clinton, she is the only First Lady of the United States ever elected to public office. Vice Presidential Candidates Two women have been nominated to run for the office of Vice President: Sarah Palin by the Republican party in 2008 and Geraldine Ferraro by the Democratic party in 1984. Another, Frances “Sissy” Farenthold, had her name put into nomination for Vice President at the Democratic National Convention in 1972.

In addition, Toni Nathan, the 1972 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, became the first woman to win an electoral vote when one Republican elector voted for her instead of for his party’s candidate. Click on image to learn more. Frances “Sissy” Farenthold (1972) Frances “Sissy” Farenthold (1972) – Gloria Steinem, author and feminist activist, put Farenthold’s name into nomination for the office of Vice President at the 1972 Democratic National Convention. A Former Texas state legislator and gubernatorial candidate, Farenthold finished second in the balloting for the vice presidential nomination, receiving 400 votes. Toni Nathan (1972) Toni Nathan (1972) – Nathan, a Libertarian, made history as the first woman to receive an electoral vote for vice president when a Virginia Republican elector voted for President Nixon, but declined to vote for Vice President and former Maryland Governor Spiro T. Agnew and instead voted for Toni Nathan of Lane County, Oregon.

Geraldine Anne Ferraro (1984) Geraldine Anne Ferraro (1984) – Ferraro was the first woman vice-presidential nominee of a major U.S. party. Shortly before the Democratic National Convention in July of 1984, Ferraro was named by Walter F. Mondale as his choice for the vice-presidency. The ticket received 13 electoral votes. Born on August 26, 1935, in Newburgh, New York, she attended Marymount Manhattan College and Fordham University Law School. She was an assistant district attorney in Queens, New York. She won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1978 and was subsequently elected to two more terms. In 1992 and again in 1998, she lost bitterly contested primaries to challenge Alfonse D’Amato for the U.S. Senate seat. She also served as co-host on the CNN public affairs program Crossfire and was the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission. She became president of G&L Strategies, a management consulting firm, and then executive vice president and head of the public affairs practice of The Global Consulting Group.

Winona LaDuke (1996, 2000) Winona LaDuke (1996, 2000) – LaDuke was the running mate of Green Party candidate Ralph Nader. Sarah Palin (2008) Sarah Palin (2008) – Palin is the second woman vice-presidential nominee from a major U.S. party and the first Republican woman nominee for the vice-presidency. Shortly before the Republican National Convention in September of 2008, Palin was named by Senator John McCain as his choice for the vice-presidency. Born on February 11, 1964, Palin was selected while serving her first term as the governor of Alaska. She served two terms on the Wasilla, Alaska city council and was elected mayor in 1996. Palin ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 2002 before winning election as governor in 2006 by first defeating the incumbent governor in the Republican primary, then a former Democratic governor in the general election.

This list includes all candidates known to CAWP who meet any of the following criteria: achieved major historic firsts; were named in national polls; achieved prominence by holding significant elected or appointed office; appeared on the general election ballot in a majority of states; and/or became eligible for federal matching funds. We welcome additional information sent to the address below to supplement our records. For a list with additional information about other candidates, see: Sources: JoFreeman.com; National Constitution Center; Federal Election Commission; Women as Politicians, “Congressional Biographies,” University of Maryland; “Not One of the Boys” a discussion guide, written by Katherine E. Kleeman, Center for American Women and Politics. Reproduction of this entire document or any part of it for non-commercial purposes is encouraged, provided credit is given to Center for American Women and Politics, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University. Any information reproduced must include footnotes/ endnotes which apply to that information. Commercial reproduction requires prior permission in writing from Center for American Women and Politics. Women Leaders Around the World Many other countries are well ahead of the U.S. in choosing women as heads of government and/or heads of state. To explore the global context for women's leadership, visit these websites.

Question: Who was the first woman to run for the vice-presidency of the United States?
Answer: Geraldine Ferraro